Editing Thunder Kings (section)

=Summary of Legion XI=

The XI Legion, the Thunder Kings, are the stalwart scions of Brennus, the 14th Primarch to be discovered by the Emperor. It is rumored that the Thunder Kings claim descent from similar genetic stock as the Thunder Warriors of old, and are thus often simultaneously the subject of both interest and revile as a consequence. They are larger than the majority of other Astartes, yet exhibit no other outward signs that would betray such lineage. They are seen as a stubborn, albeit noble Legion and Chapter, and are generalists suited to performing competently at nearly any role assigned to them. Notably, they have many successor chapters, with whom the Thunder Kings still maintain contact and friendly relations. After the voluntary burning of Alessia, the Chapter now recruits from a series of worlds located in a group of star systems known as the Soctis Cluster, where they ''de facto'' operate a kingdom in miniature within the Imperium.

[[File:Veteran Assault.jpg|200px|thumb|A Thunder Kings Assault Marine]]

==Legion Tactics==
Though the Thunder Kings will employ any necessary tactics in the field, their overall strategies are influenced by Brennus' time on Alessia. Brennus learned patience while hunting the planet's great beasts across the hills, forests, and mountains. These fey and powerful creatures could easily overpower a hunter not prepared to face them, and so Brennus developed a great skill for organization and logistics. This allowed him to ensure that, when the time came to fight a beast, he knew everything about killing it, and was prepared to do so efficiently and quickly. However, he also learned the virtue of boldness and quickness of action in the inter-tribal battles of Alessia. Tribal armies were composed of great masses of foot soldiers, led by champions and local “heroes”, warriors supposedly chosen by the gods and blessed with great strength. These men would charge in first in all battles while the common men stayed back, rarely joining in the fight unless pressing for absolute destruction of a foe. Brennus saw how the champions could motivate the men, and inspire them to fight harder, so he began sending them in shortly after the champions began fighting. This would often cause a clan to simply surrender, feeling it better to accept the easy terms offered by the Skyborn then be wiped out. Brennus took these lessons with him to the stars: he treated planets and star systems as great beasts, sending his men out to learn everything they could about them and relay it back to him. Once he knew enough about the foe, they would be overwhelmed by troops chosen to overcome specific weaknesses, while minimizing civilian casualties. Astartes would fight as Alessian champions, charging into the enemy ahead of their masses of human followers, inspiring the mortals with acts of daring heroism and combat feats. Though the Thunder Kings favor melee combat as a whole, they are not fools, and recognize the value of long range fighting. Even the most dedicated Assault marine will carry a bolter rather than a bolt pistol, and many are even seen sporting plasma or volkite guns. Similarly, the greatest of Devastator marines will carry a chainblade, or even a power weapon, alongside his combat knife. Those men considered the greatest veterans of the Thunder Kings carry weapons of all varieties, shouldering a weight in arms that could stagger a warrior of less brawn. The Thunder Kings favor Rhinos and assault chariots above other vehicles. Rhinos are valued for their speed and brawn; many a band of Thunder Kings has rammed holes into a barricade to allow for human troops to flood through. Assault chariots are usually crewed by Veterans, with a Devastator Marine riding a bike customized with the heavy weapons he favors, or those best for the fight; the carriage is manned by an Assault Marine, slinging grenades and cutting foes in twain as the chariot speeds by, only to break off before any reprisal is possible.

==Legion Equipment==

The Thunder Kings take great pride in their personal equipment; Alessian culture considers blacksmithing a high art. Sergeants and Clan leaders often wear finely woven cloaks, ornate belts, and well crafted, if slightly gaudy broaches and bangles. Every marine among the Thunder Kings adorns his armor and weapons with various fetishes and charms, usually crafted with the intricate knotwork and animal patterns unique to Alessia; these charms are believed to provide strength, protection, and other benefits. The Thunder Kings often eschew weapons like Thunder Hammers and Lightning Claws in favor of Power Swords and Spears. The Thunder Kings use a unique variant of attack bike, the Soctis pattern Assault Chariot, which has a sidecar placed behind the bike rather than alongside it. Jetbikes exist in this pattern, but are mostly operated by senior legion commanders. The Thunder Kings also commonly employ leather slings, mostly for hurling grenades. However, some do carry plasteel or ceramite bullets. In the hands of a transhuman, even such simple munitions can deal devastating wounds at a shocking distance.

==Support Formations==
[[File:Aric_Beartooth.png|200px|thumb|Aric Beartooth, a member of the Goffanoi]]

*'''''Gofannoi''''': Psykers among the Thunder Kings are known as "Goffanoi," a title referring to an ancient god of smiths. A common nickname for the members of the order is “Silverhands”, after their practice of painting their right gauntlet silver to resemble that deity. Although all of the marines of Brennus' legion are adept at the art of smithing to some degree (a test of smithcraft being part of the legion's aspirant trials), the Gofannoi are particulary proficient in crafting arms and armor of fell power. Rather than manifesting their powers openly as do the psykers of other legions, the Goffanoi channel their ability into their craft, imbuing the intricate knotwork and animal motifs of their blade, armor, and vehicle adornments with psychic energy. The loops and twists of these interlaced patterns contain words in Alessian script, usually the item's name; the length and formation of the name provides a clue to its power and strength.  These implements may be wielded by non-psykers, and will still function, if to a lesser degree, but in the hands of a psyker they pulse with true power. Brennus himself is a member of the Goffanoi, as he is able to craft and wield these items to their full potential. Individual members of the Silverhands tend to specialize in a particular area of crafting, such as weaponsmithing; they tend to work closely with Techmarines, and often the more skilled among them are capable of crafting power weapons and other advanced items. The Gofannoi rarely if ever use their psychic powers in an overt manner; they prefer to fight among their battle brothers, allowing their ability to flow into their items of power, and those of their allies.


*'''''Filid''''': The Filid are the apothecaries of the Thunder Kings, entrusted with both the mental and physical health of their brothers. Their name is taken from the wandering bards and poets of Alessia, who would compose both heroic songs and poems to exalt a king or tribal leader, and satirical verse to denigrate and demean the enemies of their patron. When Brennus took control of the legion, he reasoned that if the apothecaries were to heal his men, they should know their deeds and sentiments, and so he instructed each apothecary in the Alessian poetic tradition. After the issuance of the Chaplain Edict, the Filid took on this role as well; they were already trusted by their fellows, and so were the best choice to watch over them for signs of sorcery.



*'''''Techmarines''''': Within the Thunder Kings, forgecraft and metalworking were highly respected traditions. This meant that the honor of serving as a Techmarine was nigh incomprable. Though the legion had no particular ties to Mars and it's orthodoxies, Techmarines among the Thunder Kings were highly skilled; the immense pride every legionary took in his smithing ability led to fierce competition between legion Techmarines. They were not nearly as guarded with the secrets of technology as other acolytes of Mars. Techniques and methods of forging even relatively advanced equipment and in depth armor repair were common among even the rank and file of the legion. Most techmarines reasoned that fellow heroes were deserving the trust involved with knowing these secrets-and besides, it would leave for time for them to craft equipment of a truly fell nature. Given Brennus' proclivity for remaining distant from Terra, this attitude did not often come into conflict with Mars.


*'''''Castra''''':  Warfare on Alessia revolved around small skirmish tactics and battles between champions. Clans were based around large villages surrounding ring-walled fortress complexes. When the men of Alessia were uplifted to become Imperial super soldiers, they transferred much of their love of fortresses to their star ships, seeing a mobile armed battle barge as the ultimate fort. The legion did not leave land based fortresses behind them, recognizing the value of a solid bulwark against which an enemy could break. However, the warriors of the Thunder Kings came to prefer not only their ships, but massive star fortresses. A fort in space could not only break an enemy fleet, but serve as the ultimate insurmountable high ground. In charge of the legions fortification building was Conan Maoll, one time member of the Eleventh squad of the Sacred Band. Maoll was rude, unpleasant, and (by Space Marine standards) rather lazy. Brennus recognized that this combination of traits made him the perfect fortress builder; who better to design and maintain structures meant to keep out enemies as efficiently as possible? Maoll did indeed prove to excel at this task, designing a number of mighty star forts that would defend the Imperium well into the 40th millenium; greatest of these was Gatake's Iris, built so efficiently Maoll was able to nap through an entire xenos invasion while losing barely more than a squad's worth of men.


WIP
*'''''Victualary'''''
-the chain of star forts built by the Castra help aid in re-supply
     -supply operations handled mostly by long term members of the Banndaor, supervised by those marines in each clan or tribe with the best talent for logistics
-intelligence is a combined marine/human effort
     -minor skirmishes fought in each system, feeding intelligence back to the legion commanders and used to create a plan to overwhelm the foe
     -long term intelligence not their specialty; intelligence gathering is done on the ground when it is needed, as opposed to before hand.

==Specialist Troops==

*'''''Déith Cernun''''': The "Horned Gods". They are the greatest veterans of the 1st Grand Company, which was formed mostly from members of Brennus' personal tribe. All were equipped with Terminator armor and served as both the Primarch's bodyguard and the most elite shock troops of the legion. When a foe resisted the Thunder King's strategies for too long, the Horned Gods were teleported in to end resistance as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. In keeping with the Legion's generalist strategy, these veterans each had a mighty personal arsenal, containing weapons fit for any situation; they usually carried as much of this arsenal as possible, to allow for shifting needs in battle. The Horned Gods were named both for the rite they had to undertake to prove they were worthy to join, and because of their appearance; anyone wishing to join had to hunt and kill an Alessian mega-stag, with only a spear, a sling, and a pouch of stones, and they wore the stag's antlers on their helmets as a sign of their rank.  Unusually, the Gods always had a dedicated apothecary, one of the Legion's Filid, and a dedicated Librarian of the Silverhands.

*'''''Awenyddion ''''': "Inspired Ones". The most decorated, veteran Legionaries under each Dunn Rig's command. The armaments of the Awenyddion varied depending on which clan and tribe they served with. Regardless of their tribe, each was a truly superlative warrior.

*'''''Drakk Fal''''':  "Dragonblooded." The Drakk Fal are a high-speed rapid reaction force said to be first formed during the Crannórga campaign. Their name comes from the Alessian Sea Dragon, a cruel and merciless creature that strikes with no warning or hesitation. They are commonly found using two-handed axes or swords , although they will sometimes carry a melta or plasma gun as backup. They are often found riding jetbikes, though the majority are armed simply with assault packs. They will always have a dedicated Thunderhawk or Stormbird, as well as a Rhino they have customized to their liking.

*'''''Breaca Seidhe''''' : "Fae Marked". Specialized armoured shock assault and line-breaker fast attack formations. They are originated from inter-legion fraternity of blacksmith-engineers and consequently proficient at utilizing plasma, graviton and other exotic, esoteric arsenals. Their signature equipment is a unique open-top Rhino variant, the ''Géardhroi'' (Razorback). While sacrificing some transport capacity and protection, it enables them to deploy equipped with normally unusable, or unfitting, weaponry. Typically the Fae Marked were Techmarines, though a select few of the Legion's Silverhands were allowed to join.

*'''''Obaidh Seath''''' : "Spirit Folk". Specialized urban warfare and siege assault formations focused on minimize casualties, both Imperials and civilians. They were the only Thunder Kings to regularly use Thunder Hammers. The particular pattern of hammer they used was intended to stun foes as opposed to slaying them, allowing for a mostly unharmed prisoner. The Spirit Folk always maintain a squad of Filid, to ensure their prisoners are kept in acceptable condition.

*'''''Lann an Arsa''''': "Blades of the Ancients." Risen with advent of Legion Fleet. Elite boarding parties and specialized breacher formations. They were highly respected among the Legion and were commonly given high quality and exotic equipment. A signature piece was a slimmed down jump pack. This variant was not meant for rapid assaults, but rather to allow the marine to maneuver in the void. They also carried shaped melta charges suitable for blasting a hole into a starship hull, if used in great enough numbers.

*'''''Oingheaw Andagha''''' : "Daughters of Starfire". Legion's elite fleet formations. The title encompassed both fighter pilots and crew members of larger ships. Due to significance of Legion fleet elements, they exert substantial influence. Experts of void warfare and closely associated with Lann an Arsa, which performs boarding actions.